Chapter One ALARMING NEWS

 The Teenie Weenies had known for some time that a tribe of tiny wild men lived in a big swamp many teenie weenie miles from the shoe house. Field mice and birds had carried the news of these strange little people to the Teenie Weenies. The wild men lived in the heart of a big forest and they spoke¹ a language quite different from the Teenie Weenies.

“These wild men are very cruel,” a friendly bird told the Teenie Weenies. “They are called Saboes, or frog eaters, and they would just as soon destroy a person as look at him.”

“Well, they will never hurt us,” the General said, “for we shall leave them alone and, besides, they live a great distance from the shoe house.”

“Well, you’d better watch out for them; there are a great many of these wild men and you can never tell when they might come along,” said the bird, who was a mourning dove and always looked on the dark side of things.

The Teenie Weenies didn’t worry about the wild men much, for they lived so far away and, besides, there was the Teenie Weenie army ever ready to protect them against an enemy. But the little people soon had cause for worry, for a dreadful thing happened.

One afternoon a snail² raced slowly up to the shoe house with alarming news—the Lady of Fashion and the Poet had been captured by the wild men!

“Gracious!” gasped³ the General. “How did you find this out?”

“I-I-I-I saw them captured,” answered the snail. “The wild men took them and put them in their boat and paddled down the creek⁴. There must have been five or six of the wild men. They all had bows and arrows and spears too, and they looked terribly fierce.”

“Ring the bell,” cried the General. “We’ll have a great council and see what can be done.”

Several of the Teenie Weenies ran to the old derby hat which served the little people as a school house and armory⁵, and began furiously to ring the tiny bell. All the birds and animals who lived near the little village knew that when the bell rang long and loud it was a signal for them to come. In a few minutes, two birds flew under the rose bush where the village stood and one by one, several mice, a squirrel and a couple of intelligent-looking bugs⁶ appeared.

“Friends,” said the General, addressing the assembled crowd, “I have terrible news! The Lady of Fashion and the Poet have been captured by the wild men. This—this snail here has just brought the report.”

The Teenie Weenies and their friends were much shocked by the news, while the snail strutted⁷ about, feeling quite important at being the bearer of such an exciting message.

 

“When did this happen?” asked the mouse with a squeaky voice.

“About five or six hours ago,” answered the snail. “I was walkin’ near the creek when—”

“Five or six hours ago!” shouted the General, turning on the snail. “For the land’s sake, why didn’t you come immediately?”

“I-I-I did,” answered the snail, with an injured expression. “I came just as fast as I could crawl.”

“Of course you did,” said the General kindly⁸. “I beg your pardon. I forgot for the moment that you do not move as fast as most of us.” The snail, who had rather a sensitive nature, was quite hurt by the General’s words and it instantly shrank back into its shell.

After some talk it was decided⁹ to scatter¹⁰ up and down the creek in search of the lost Teenie Weenies. The birds flew up and down the creek until it was quite too dark for them to see, while the little people and the rest of their friends hunted all through the night without a sign of the Lady of Fashion and the Poet.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

3 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

5 armory   

n.纹章，兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Nuclear weapons will play a less prominent part in NATO's armory in the future.核武器将来在北约的军械中会起较次要的作用。
• Every March the Armory Show sets up shop in New York.每年三月，军械博览会都会在纽约设置展场。

6 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 strutted   

趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。